Re: If you're Pakistani and you're mistaken for an Indian...
hmm I think context matters the most here...like sehar said above, it depends on the conversation, if someone is taking my order or ringing me up, it doesn't matter who/what they think I am....I'm not there to chitchat or make friends.
but if someone is genuinely asking and they have teh gall to say "it's all the same" I'll be quick to correct them and say something similar back at them. Funny enough, people like that get super offended too :)
Re: If you're Pakistani and you're mistaken for an Indian...
It's all about how we identify ourselves ... those who say "we are the same" or accept others mistaking us for being from somewhere else ... it says more about how we wish to draw our lines of self-identification. And we identify ourselves by "what we like" ... so those who do not mind being mistaken to be Indian but are Pakistani - may be that way, because either their families are muhajir from India or that they identify with India in a way that pleases them or that their history knowledge is more comprehensive or/and they may not have strong ties to the ideological existence of Pakistan. Those Indians who like to be confused as being Pakistani either do so because they may share some semblance of an ideological Pakistani existence or some other factor that describes the dominant perception of what being a Pakistani entails, they may also be like that to diminish the importance of the ideological existence of Pakistan by that semblance too.
Unfortunately the majority of likes and dislikes revolve around popular opinion, fashion and shallow perceptions ... such as race, coolness and status.
For a woman by Pakistani society - being like a Pakistani in looks is perceived as better yet being like an Indian housewife is also perceived as better ...
Re: If you're Pakistani and you're mistaken for an Indian...
Asia does not have 2 countries only, so if I don't look Chinese that means I'm Indian? NO.
I don't like that they assume instantly, why don't you ask me first?
And like it has been said before, we are not the same.
Re: If you're Pakistani and you're mistaken for an Indian...
Maybe 30, 40 years ago there was similarity between the 2 cultures. And sure we look similar to some extent, but after 60+ years of independence, both countries are developing their own separate cultures and identities. Because we have a shared history of centuries there are similar interests and similar values, but it's diverging and maybe a century later it won't be similar at all, just like Chinese and Japanese cultures aren't similar now.
Re: If you're Pakistani and you're mistaken for an Indian...
there's a relatively fool-proof test - quiz the generic brown person about evolution. denies it - most likely pakistani. i'd give it an 80% success rate.
Re: If you’re Pakistani and you’re mistaken for an Indian…
Our high school bus driver was a friendly aged white man. When we’d be getting off the bus he’d greet all of us with what he though was most suitable. White folks got a bye, Chinese something else, the hijabis got an assalamualaikum, and all brown girls got a namaste. My Pakistani friend would also get a namaste and then get annoyed
Re: If you're Pakistani and you're mistaken for an Indian...
I get annoyed .. I allways correct the people. I dont feel any connection with India. We need to move forward and make our own identity know to the world.
Re: If you're Pakistani and you're mistaken for an Indian...
I rather noticed an odd pattern. Some people view it negatively and are terribly offended, almost to the point of outrage, if they are confused with Indians. Ironically, these same people take it positively and as a compliment if they are mistaken for Arab, Turkish, Iranian, etc. Why is that?
I've heard several people state that they feel offended at being confused for Indian because Pakistan has its own distinct culture and has relatively little in common with India. If people genuinely feel that this is the case, shouldn't they be equally offended at being confused for other ethnicities/nationalities as the culture of these other countries has nothing in common with Pakistani culture either?
Re: If you're Pakistani and you're mistaken for an Indian...
^Funny that.. You hardly ever see people being offended at being mistaken for Iranian or Turkish even tho culturally they are much more different (notice I've mentioned culture and not religion)..
Even being mistaken for Greek isn't generally seen as a negative.. spot the common denominator..
Re: If you're Pakistani and you're mistaken for an Indian...
^^ very well said
we are all guilty of misidentifying individuals with their ethnicity/county all the time. do we differentiate between a Thai and a Filipino, a Malaysian and a Singaporean, a Chinese and a Taiwanese?
Re: If you're Pakistani and you're mistaken for an Indian...
I think Pakistanis have more in common with Indians culturally than ethnically. To say that Indian Muslims are another race or culture is quite absurd. However ethnically I do think many Pakistanis look kind of Persian, by that I don't mean in complexion but facial features.
Re: If you're Pakistani and you're mistaken for an Indian...
^^ very well said
we are all guilty of misidentifying individuals with their ethnicity/county all the time. do we differentiate between a Thai and a Filipino, a Malaysian and a Singaporean, a Chinese and a Taiwanese?
To us all people with small eyes are "cheenay". lol Just as non-South Asians think that all brown looking people are from India since majority of them seem to be, we assume that all Asian looking people are Chinese.
Re: If you're Pakistani and you're mistaken for an Indian...
To us all people with small eyes are "cheenay". lol Just as non-South Asians think that all brown looking people are from India since majority of them seem to be, we assume that all Asian looking people are Chinese.
that's the point! :D vaise, ham log India meN sab ko ek hii naam se pukaarte the..."nak chapTe"...* :(*
